Posts Tagged ‘Jimmy’

In honor of their appearance, I have created a special JaM reward sketch that you can view by voting for Theater Hopper at buzzComix. It depicts Joe finally learning the important difference between e.p.t. and E.M.T.

A major shout-out needs to go out to Joe and Monkey creator Zach Miller. I already gave him some minor kudos on Friday, but this time I’m handing out the King-Sized kudos. Not only has Zach been a great sounding board to bounce ideas off of as I conclude the arc, but when I needed help finding the punch line to today’s strip, Zach was more than willing to lend a hand. I mean, who better to get the tone and the feeling of the characters right than the guy who created them? The e.p.t. joke is totally his and I appreciate his help. It was a real treat to take his characters for a little spin around the block. I had a blast working with them.

Can you believe the storyline that started way back on September 6 is almost over? A whole month dedicated to one arc. It’s crazy for me!

And I swear that it will end on Friday. No more phony extensions like I gave myself last week! This time it has been plotted out. It is set in stone! The closer comes on Friday and that’s it!

Anyway, I know I’ll be saying it a lot this week, so thank you to everyone who has supported this arc. It’s really helped to wake me up creatively and it’s been a blast.

I also want to say thank you to everyone who has bought our new t-shirt. Response to this design has been a lot stronger than the old Pimp Tom t-shirt. I have a feeling we may have hit on a design that I can continue to sell on the site for a long time.

It’s funny, y’know. The concept for the shirt originally began as an inside joke for the members of the THorum. I can’t get into the whole history of it, but I thought only a few people would buy the shirt since they were the ones who inspired it. Instead, when I’m checking my referral logs, I’m seeing links to all these other communities with other movie fans saying “Hey, check out this shirt!” and linking to the site. So if you’re new to Theater Hopper after coming to check out the shirt

Oh, Tom. When will you learn to stop being such a nuisance and stand out of the way when someone is being given the Heimlich maneuver? If only someone had posted a warning sign to educate you about the pitfalls of being in the blast zone…

# THE REST OF THIS BLOG WAS LOST WHEN THEATER HOPPER MOVED TO WORDPRESS IN 2009 #

Well, there you have it! 32 days and 15 comics later, we’ve come to the end of the storyline. Although we’ve established Jimmy as the moral center of the comic, he’s still as naive and sincere as ever. Proof of which can be witnessed in an incentive sketch you can view by voting for Theater Hopper at buzzComix.

I’m not really sure how to go about discussing this storyline without repeating a lot of what I’ve already said in earlier blogs. I’m also feeling like I’m a little “too close to the project” right now, so I fear that my analysis will be slightly more skewed than if I gave myself some time away from it.

What I CAN say is “Thank you” to all of the readers that supported me while I exercised a different set of skills. I tried my hardest to develop the characters, sharpen my dialogue, ground the situations to reality and improve my art style. Maybe I didn’t meet all the goals, but I know I’m at least half way there and I have you guys to thank for it.

Read through the blogs during this arc. You’ll witness a lot of self-doubt. I never knew from day to day if the direction I was taking things in would alienate readers. The feedback I got was invaluable. Not only did you guys tell me I was on the right track, but you instructed me to push it further! As a result, I attempted to sharpen my focus while telling a bigger story. Over a month later and this is the result.

I think it’s safe to say now that I’m very proud with the way things turned out. Sure, everyone kind of ended up back where they started. Jimmy got his old job back and Tom will probably go back to his antagonistic ways. But we learned a lot about the characters along the way. What’s that saying about “the journey, not the destination?”

As happy as I am with the result, I’m ready to start being more topical again and talking about current movies. I think we’re finally starting to emerge from the post-summer slump and we’ll start seeing some really good movies soon.

Until then, thanks again to all the readers that supported me through telling this story. I dedicate it to all of you.

Although Ocean’s 12 is probably the least creative title to a movie sequel since Analyze That, I’m excited to see it when it comes out on Friday. Heck, even my PARENTS and my IN-LAWS are excited to see it. We saw both sets of parents this weekend and separately they asked me if it was coming out soon.

I think I’m probably a fan of the series because it has a very light retro feel and isn’t quite as morose as most caper flicks seem to be these days. No one dies. There are no gunfights. Just smart people speaking sharp dialogue and outwitting each other. It’s a fabulous concept.

I’m kind of monkeying with the idea of taking today’s strip and stretching it out into a week-long story arc. I don’t know if that means three days or five days – if I manage to stretch it out at all. I’ll be honest; I don’t have any ideas down on paper. But I can clearly see an opportunity to have a little fun with things. If you have any thoughts, leave them in the THorum.

Speaking of the THorum, I finally penned the holiday-themed artwork that one lucky participant will receive in our first-annual gift exchange. I thought you might get a kick out of it, so I decided to post it to today’s blog:

I think the opportunity has passed to submit your name to the gift exchange, but I’ll probably take some time soon to color this in and offer it as the wallpaper for the Donation incentive. I’ve been meaning to update that for a LONG ass time!

Also keep in mind that this week is the last to get a pre-order in for our newest shirts, baby doll and hoodies available in the store. December 10 is the cut off date. After that, you’ll have to wait a few weeks before I put them up for sale again. Place your pre-order now!

Last bit of site news I’ll mention, you’ve probably noticed the new round of sponsors on the front page and would like to know more about them!

Hypocritical Hero is a marvelous manga-style black and white comic just getting its start. It’s clear that there is a larger story being told here, so now is a good opportunity to get in on the ground floor!

O’Deer Comics is a frequent sponsor and a great comic to boot. Normally the comic is about what Santa’s reindeer do the rest of the year. But now that the big day is approaching, how do they prepare? Read O’Deer Comics to find out.

Our last sponsor is also a recent newcomer to the web comic scene. Kendara is a fantasy/adventure comic taking place in 1553!

So as you can see, we’ve assembled a very eclectic group of new comics for you to check out. So do yourself a favor and spread a little love. Investigate these great, new comics!

I hope everyone is enjoying this week’s arc. I plan to keep rolling with it until either I’ve run out of jokes or no one wants to hear Ocean’s 12 references any more.

I dunno. Ever since I did that giant month-long arc where Jimmy lost his job, I’ve been much less uptight about keeping Theater Hopper a gag strip. I think I’ve introduced enough characters at this point that the comic can stand up on its own two feet a little more. Sure it only took two and a half years to do it, but gotta walk before you can crawl, right? Sheesh…

Speaking of Ocean’s 12, I’m going tonight with Cami and the rest of the family. I’m talking my parents, her parents and her sister. It’s kind of this weird tradition or something now. We all went to see Ocean’s 11 three years ago about this time. I think it actually came out on or near my birthday… Yup, IMDB confirms it. December 7, 2001. My birthday is on the 21st. Must have been a busy time of year for us to put it off two weeks. Or maybe we saw it twice? Who knows.

Critical response has had the air of tepid bemusement. It’s not as if they can really find anything wrong with the movie, but they’re all giving off this vibe like “Yeah. Yeah. This was fun, but get back to making movies more like Traffic, Mr. Soderbergh.”

But honestly, who else like Soderbergh could put together a cast like this? There must be something about the way the man operates that lends him this favor with actors. All we’ve been hearing for months is how much fun they all had making this movie. Well, yeah. I’d be having a lot of fun, too if I was trotting all around Europe with 11 other movie stars. D

id you know the sequel was filmed for the same amount of money as the first? Or at least Soderbergh insisted as much. I don’t see how that’s possible considering the locations and the additions to the cast. It could all be Hollywood hogwash, actually. A nice thought to stir up interest and have people asking “How’d they do that?” before even stepping foot into the theater.

At any rate, we’re going tonight.

I wanted to remind everyone that today is the last day to place a pre-order for all the cool shirts, baby doll tees and hoodies we have in the store. I’ll be taking orders until midnight, so as long as I receive your payment before then, we’re cool.

Actually, if there a few of you out there who are interested in purchasing the Professional Movie-Goer t-shirt or hoodie, it would be great if you could place your order now. I’m actually just a few orders shy of making the minimum order amount set by my printer.

Conversely, none of you ladies were interested in the Truman baby-doll, so I’ll likely be expanding the design into tees and hoodies to meet the minimum order amount there. Naturally, I’ll be extending the deadline on that one.

That’s about all the self-promotion I can think about for the moment, so it’s time to switch gears and promote someone else!

Misfile is our latest sponsor and it’s a great anime-inspired comic about a boy accidentally turned into a girl by a hard-drinking, drug-abusing fallen angel. It’s a unique concept and the pencils are awesome. Check it out!

That about does it for me today. I’ll come back later if I have any other thoughts about Ocean’s 12…

I think if I just… try… a little HARDER! – I could have gotten more panels and more text in today’s comic.

I don’t know where this recent influx of married humor is coming from. It’s kinda developing organically. I say roll with it!

You guys should really check out our latest sponsor – The Asylumantics. It’s a wonderfully illustrated comic about a bunch of mental patients and they recently updated their schedule to an aggressive (but satisfying!) 5 times a week!

Since there really aren’t any interesting movies coming out this weekend that I can talk about, I’m going to shift focus for a minute.

Way back in September when I embarked on the aforementioned large story arc about Jimmy losing his job, my good friend Joe Dunn – illustrator at Digital Pimp Online sent me this awesome artwork:

I clutched it to my chest and held it close for the longest time because I thought that I would use the artwork in book collecting the Jimmy arc that I would later sell on the site.

As I get further and further away from that period in the strip, the collected book feels less likely. So to make amends for my selfish sins, I wanted to share this artwork with the world. Frankly, it’s too good NOT to share.

Of course, the fact that Joe recently sent me another piece of fan art to commemorate Charlie’s introduction certainly pushed my hand to a degree:

What can I say about Joe’s talent that isn’t blatantly obvious? All I can say is that he draws my characters better than I could ever hope to. The real turn of the screw is that Joe’s versions are how I envision them in my head. I just can’t get my brain and my right hand to agree in that regard.

So many thanks to Joe Dunn for all his hard work and support. I appreciate it. Everyone needs to check out Digital Pimp Online right this very minute and soak up as much of Joe’s work as possible. You won’t regret it!

I know after reading today’s comic (the 22nd installment of a story arc that began here) some of you would try to ensnare me with a reference to this comic – the one where Jimmy explains how he doesn’t check the women’s restroom.

First of all, thank you. This means you’ve been paying attention.

Second of all, this reversal of status says less about Jimmy’s previous unwillingness and more about my need to tell a more economical storyline. Besides, if Jimmy thought someone was in trouble, OF COURSE he would come to their aid. Because that’s just the kind of stand up guy he is.

Gabe and Tycho from Penny Arcade went to Planet Comicon a few years ago. I decided to make the three hour drive from West Des Moines to Kansas City to meet them. Theater Hopper maybe had… 30 strips at the time? So I didn’t have a lot to say to them besides “Buh… guh… I like your comic. You inspired me to start my own.” Frankly, they probably get that a lot. They’ve probably stopped checking the links of sites that have cropped up in their wake.

But I guess I’ve talked to Tycho a few times since then over e-mail and he’s very generous. Not to sound like a fan-boy kiss up, but it’s very validating to exchange thoughts of an individual who was one of the crystallizing forces behind the popularity of your medium.

Anyway, Gabe and Tycho played Kansas City two years ago, so I thought it was worth it to make my own appearance.

Of course, they FLEW from Seattle to Kansas City. I’ll be driving. But why split hairs?…

So instead of drawing a whole new sketch, I half-assed it and reinterpreted panel 3 of today’s comic. Click on the link if you’re interested. It’s the first full color incentive sketch I’ve ever done. It’s a movie one-sheet for an upcoming action picture starring Cami and Charlie.

Gotta tell you it feels good to move the action outside of that bathroom. Now that Cami and Charlie are free from their confines, we’re one step closer to resolution and a return to more topical humor in the strip.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve enjoyed bringing Charlie into the mix. But just as I felt I was repeating myself at the end of 2004, I’m starting to feel like I’m repeating myself in this longer storyline. Look over the last three strips. There’s a dramatic dramatic Dragon Ball Z Super Sayin moment in all three of them. I guess in more highbrow art circles, they would call that “a triptych”, but I’m just ready to go back to fine-tuning my strengths.

Doing this storyline was like working a different set of muscles. Let’s say the deltoids. But I’m ready to start working my biceps again because that’s what gets the ladies talkin’! The biceps or the pectorals. Oh! Oh! Or the glutes! The glutes!

Anyway, we’re winding things up. I wanted you to know that.

I’ve been really excited for this weekend because Cami and finally buckled down and said, “That’s it! We’re seeing all the Best Picture nominees this weekend and that’s final!” We’ve already seen Ray and The Aviator. This weekend we’re planning to see Million Dollar Baby and Sideways.

I know, I know. If you comb through the last few blogs and were given a nickel for every time we said we were going to see these films, you’d

C’mon. You don’t think I could let a movie with a title like Must Love Dogs could slip past my radar without an affectionate tribute to my one and only beagle Truman?

I wish I had a cute new photo of him to post for you guys, but since the move, I think our digital camera is still buried in a box somewhere.

It’s unbelievable how often I get e-mail asking me when I’m going to put Truman into the strip next. Odd because he’s only been in three or four that I can recall off the top of the head and he never has a speaking line. I guess he must make an impression.

Should Truman become a regular character in the comic? The Scooby to Tom’s Shaggy? Or perhaps more accurately, the Snoopy to Tom’s Charlie Brown? Food for thought.

I don’t have a lot to say about Must Love Dogs except that it looks like a perfectly serviceable romantic comedy. Even though I know that it’s aimed squarely at the middle-aged divorced market – and let’s face it, how often is THAT demographic being played to? – I don’t even view it within the context of the treacly genre it clearly aspires to.

Casting Diane Lane as the lead goes a long way in this respect. Her unflinching work in Unfaithful three years ago saw to that. And, of course, by adding John Cusack to ANYTHING, you increase your film’s ranking on the Tom Brazelton Cool-O-Meter(tm).

I’d really like to take Cami to the movie this weekend and I wanted to admit it publicly so you guys don’t think I’m some kind of curmudgeon 100% of the time when it comes to romantic comedies.

Hey, does anyone out there have any experience with PHP? Or more specifically, any kind of scripting similar to that which helps display the comics on the site in the timely manner we’ve all come to appreciate?

I’m looking for a way to insert ALL of the guest strips that have been given to me back into the archive so that people can view them. But at the same time, I need to figure out a way that they system won’t officially “count” them. That is, figure out a way that the script can skip over assigning the guest strip a number like in the upper right hand corner of the comic.

Basically what I want to do is give an exact numerical representation of the number of comics I’ve actually sit down to write and draw rather than include guest strips in the archive and say they were mine.

For example, I always hate it when I read some kind of web comic press release that says “The Adventures of Pixel and Poxel recently celebrated 500 comics!” Not so fast, pal! I noticed you had 47 guest comics in your archive. So shouldn’t you be celebrating your 453rd comic?

Does that make sense? If any of you guys think you might have a solution or would like copies of the files you could maybe toy around with, drop me a line.

I’d like to acknowledge the people who’s hard work has helped me through hard times by giving them the continued exposure that the deserve, but I also want an honest representation of my own investment. Just a little piece of mind.

I thought today’s incentive sketch turned out really well, so I thought I would take a little extra time and finish it off with color. I hope you enjoy it!

So there is no confusion, I’m not making fun of virgins in this strip. It’s very important that I stress that. That’s why Tom and Jared don’t make a big deal about Jimmy’s admission. He assumed incorrectly that there would be a negative stigma. Meanwhile, these guys just wanted to see the movie.

I’m not a religious guy, so I’m not necessarily bound by the convictions of the faith. I’ve just seen enough people regret their actions later down the line that I applaud anyone smart enough and emotionally mature enough to wait for the person they plan to be with the rest of their lives.

In terms of my introduction to such matters, you’ll get no such information from me!

In that regard, I feel badly for the star of The 40 Year-Old Virgin – Steve Carell – because I’m sure he has to put up with a litany of dumb questions about his own virginity while he’s making the promotional rounds for this movie. I’m certain that every interviewer who asks him how and when he lost his “special purpose” things they are being bold, original or clever. But Steve’s a sharp tack. I’m sure he has some deadpan comebacks ready for them.

Things have been… interesting for me the last few days. I don’t know if I can explain much more than that without giving away information I don’t want to share. But our family has been through the wringer the last few weeks. This weekend is all about recharging the batteries and staring down some challenges ahead of us. We’re seeing The 40 Year-Old Virgin, of course. But Broken Flowers finally opens in Des Moines this weekend and I’m really excited to see that. A Sunday matinee there awaits us.

Seems like this summer has been such a drag for movies. Anything I’m interested in seeing arrives in theaters in bulk. So I’ll go a few weeks without seeing anything, then go to 2 or 3 movies in a weekend right on top of each other.

Also buy some t-shirts if you’re so inclined. I just got a bundle of them in on Tuesday so it’s very likely that I have your size and can send you one! I have a bunch of orders I wasn’t able to fill because I ran out of inventory, so those guys come first. But I deliberately over-ordered so I would have some ready to go.